The True Apocalypse
by charmastrife
Summary: When 3/4 of population completely disappears, the world falls into chaos. Only 30 million people survived, and the numbers are dwindling. Either you survive, or you die. Follow Zack, Cloud, Jace, and Clary on their fight for survival. They must rely on their group and each other if they will make it. But will relying on each other be enough? Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright guys. strifelover** (**Me**)** and Charmaeleine are collaborating to make this story. If you guys like this, go check out our other accounts. This story may get confusing. It is a crossover of Final Fantasy Seven and The Mortal Instruments. We promise, the story will make sense. **

_Cloud*_

It was cold. The fire we lit could only keep us alive, but only barely. Zack, my beloved husband, was close to the fire, yet he was still shivering and shaking. I took off one of my blankets and put it on him. He was shot in the raiding about a week ago, and I don't have any medical supplies. Before the apocalypse, I was a doctor. Zack was a soldier. One of my best friends, Aerith, was a scientist, and my other friend, Tifa, was the smartest mathematician. We may not be much, but we rely on each other, and we survive. Each of us need each other. Especially me and Zack. We can only live with each other if we're together.

One time, about a year ago, some bandits kidnapped him, leaving me broken. I had thought he was dead. But no. He became a toy for them. He was beaten and tortured, and even raped. When I found out that he was alive, I walked into the bandits compound and surrendered myself to them. I was in there for five minutes before Aerith and Tifa broke us out.

Ever since his kidnapping, we have been very careful. Scouting every corner, every nook and cranny, before we raided a building. Our ways have kept us alive, and for that, I am grateful.

Zack snapped me back into the present, his chattering got louder, and he woke up. He was looking at me and... smiling. I haven't seen him do that in so long.

"Zack. What are you doing up? You need to sleep. I'm still on watch." Zack's smile got wider. How he could smile, with what we've been through, I'll never know. I always called him my puppy. Before the apocalypse, he was always so happy. Smiling every minute of the day. When he ran and smiled, his hair flopped, making him look like a playful puppy.

"I'm awake enough to see you. You may be on watch, but that doesn't mean I have to sleep. Just cause I was shot..."

"Stop it Zack. Sleep. I was lucky enough to pull the bullet out and carterize your wound. I don't wanna get it infected." I had seen enough infected bullet wounds to know that its really hard to recover from.

"I can't it's freezing. Even with this extra blanket and fire. Cloud, you need to be warm to. Here," said Zack, pulling the blanket off, and getting close to me. "Plus, I'll be warmer with you next to me." Zack came up to me, kissing me lightly on the lips. He wrapped the blanket around me, pulling me to the ground. He hugged me to him, as if it was the last time he would ever hold me.

I could see light coming off the horizon, signalling that it was Tifa's turn to watch. I put my hand onZack's shoulder, lightly kissed him, and got up. I walked over to Tifa and lightly shook her. I stepped away just as she swung her dagger straight for my head. "Calm down. It's just me. It's your watch." Tifa nodded, and got up.

"You let me sleep. It's light out. You were supposed to wake me about two hours ago. Cloud, you need to sleep to."

"You needed sleep. Plus, I was watching Zack. I need medical supplies." Tifa nodded, grabbed my shoulder, and walked to the entrance of the cave that we staying in. I walked over to Zack, lied down and stared at his gorgeous eyes. So blue that they could drown you in happiness. He was still smiling, which meant that he was happy. For no reason.

"I love you Zack. I always will."

"And I you, Cloud Strife. I always will."

I kissed Zack one time and closed my eyes. I fell into happy place, at first. Then the vision started. I saw 4 people. In the front was a man, maybe 18. He was tall. Had blondish brownish hair. Looked like dye from where I was standing. There was a girl, just behind him who screamed. _"JACE!"_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Clary**_

_Bang-Cling_

_Bang-Cling_

_Bang-Cling_

_Bang-Thud_

"Haha!" I yelled triumphantly. "3 outta 4. Not bad if I do say so myself."

Jace and I decided to practice shooting while Alec and Magnus were off doing early morning rounds, making sure there wasn't any imminent danger. Jace motioned for me to hand him the gun, when I did, he popped out the magazine to see how many bullets were left.

"Go set up the targets for me." He said not unkindly. I began to walk towards the countertop we were using and turned my head back slightly to shout back at him:

"Don't shoot me, okay?" I said playfully. His response was to raise the gun and point it at me as if he was going to shoot me as I reached the place where the empty tin cans we were using has targets were lying. I carefully set the tin cans back on the counter top and walked back to stand next to Jace.

_Bang-Cling_

_Bang-Cling_

_Bang-Cling_

_Bang-Cling_

All four targets were down within seconds. Jace turned to me, wearing a big smirk on his face.

"I win." was all he said.

"Not fair." I pouted

"It's totally fair," Jace stated confidently, "I'm just better than you."

I rolled my eyes "Oh please. If I wasn't shivering so much I'd totally beat you any day."

Jace was in middle of giving me a sympathetic look when the door swung open; Alec and Magnus walked in.

"All clear?" I asked. Alec nodded.

"It looks like this place is gonna be safe for a little while," he said, "As long as we're careful, of course."

It wasn't until I fully looked over at Magnus that I noticed that he had his hands behind his back.

"What're you hidin' there, Magnus?" I said, tilting my head to the side slightly in curiosity.

"Well... While we were out risking our lives to search for any dangerous threats, we found..." Magnus said, drawing out the last word as he struggled to bring his arms forward, but he was apparently holding way to much to do so, leaving him doing a little dance in his attempt to present what they had found, causing a chuckle to come from Jace, who was still standing beside me.

After fumbling around for a little and with a bit of Alec's help, he managed to bring forward all of the contents in his hands for Jace and me to see; a pile of blankets and some unopened cans of tomato soup.

"FOOD!" Jace yelled and nearly tackled Magnus in an attempt to snatch up the food that was placed carefully atop the large pile of wool blankets that were in his arms. He grabbed one and immediately started to pry the lid open with his Bowie knife; then threw his head back, downing the entire can in one large swig.

"Gross, Jace." Alec said.

"What?" Jace defended as he nonchalantly tossed the now empty can of tomato soup to the side. Alec just shook his head and grabbed the rest of the cans of soup and put them safely on the ground; Magnus tossed the blankets he was holding to me.

There was a long, slightly awkward silence. Nobody moved, not wanting to brake the silence.

"At least we won't have to worry about freezing to death tonight." Alec said, doing the job of breaking the silence, obviously trying to remind us of the positives, which is always appreciated.

I couldn't help but laugh a little at that. Freezing to death was always a concern. I'm pretty sure none of us even remember what it feels like to be warm. To not be constantly shivering.

* * *

"Hey! Don't!" I yelled as Jace pushed me towards the trap that I was setting up, nearly resulting in my falling into it and setting it off.

Jace and I were spending all day setting traps up around a perimeter of the area. Each one had some sort of trip wire that was connected to anything ranging from a string of raised cans to small explosives, depending on how close it was to the building we were camping out in. To warn us if there were to be anyone closing in us. He just shrugged, and smirked a little. As much as he pretends he's going to kill me, I know he never would; we're like siblings- maybe even closer, like we're almost the same person.

Jace and I walked back to the building we left Alec and Magnus, while cracking really cheesy joking and laughing with each other the whole way. No matter how bad things got, we learned the hard way that sometimes sharing a laugh with who you consider your family is the only thing that can keep you going.

I opened the door while announcing that we had finished setting up all of the traps. But it was obvious that neither of them were listening to me because they were busy sucking each other's faces off.

A while ago, when the two had first gotten together, I would have covered my eyes and yelled at them to get a room. But now I was used to it and rolled my eyes.

It wasn't until Jace started to shout out advice to the two on how to kiss better that they seemed to finally acknowledge our presence.

Alec seemed slightly embarrassed but Magnus seemed quite glad that we had walked in right then.

* * *

Because Jace and I took so long setting up the traps, it was nearly sunset when we had gotten back. The four of us had eaten a small dinner of tomato soup- Magnus and Alec sharing one and Jace and I sharing one to conserve the small amount that we had (even though Jace had already taken the liberty of drinking down an entire can earlier that morning)- and had gone off the bed.

Alec and Magnus were curled up next to each other, sharing a blanket and leaving two more for Jace and I. I grabbed the shorter one and wrapped it around myself and used my backpack as a make-shift pillow and closed my eyes.

I was almost asleep when I heard a whisper in my ear:

"You know, if we snuggle we'll both be a lot warmer."

"Jace," I groaned sleepily, "Go away before I have to stab you with this knife," I said while holding up the knife I always had with in my hand when I sleep.

"Yes Ma'am" Jace answered mockingly and I heard his footsteps as he walked away to go to sleep.

I was the warmest I had been in a very long time. I had been beginning to get so cold that I was starting to contemplate actually sleeping next to Jace just to keep from freezing to death.

I silently thanked who ever it was looking down upon me that we finally found somewhere to settle for at least a little while and that we were so lucky to have found food as well, right before I let myself be wrapped into the comforting arms of sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**strifelover here. This chapter may be confusing, but I don't really know. Charmaeleine and I are moving really slow on this story at the moment, but we will post as much as we** can.

_Cloud*_

The day was warm. Which meant it was above freezing, but barely. The sun was overhead when Aerith woke me up. I had had more than enough sleep, but I was grateful. I grabbed Zack and put him on the sled that we were carrying him on. I tried not to wake Zack up, but I could feel him stirring under my hands. I put all the blankets we had on him started pulling the sled. We were going to the equator, but there was no way that we could cross water. The ocean was frozen, but ice was frozen for so long. Since Zack couldn't walk, we had to drag him. If the sled breaks, we'll have to carry him. From there, but things will get harder.

But for now, the sled works and Aerith thinks she remembers an old hospital being around our area. She said that it might be about 10 miles away. We had to get there. I needed to get a med kit for Zack. His wound was starting to get infected. He had maybe another 2 weeks before he died.

The journey was hard, but we finally saw a building. It was huge, maybe 19 stories. Buried in the sand was a sign: _"New York hospital"._ I blew a long sigh. We might actually be able to save him. I picked up Zack as lightly as could. He was still asleep, lightly breathing. That was the only indication that he was still alive. I couldn't walk. I needed to get there. I sprinting as fast as I could. There was no electricity so I pulled the flashlight out of my shoulder with my teeth.

I clicked it on with my tongue and walked in. The sliding doors were inoperable but open. As soon as I walked in, I heard the doors behind me slam shut, locking Tifa and Aerith out. I turned around and saw a woman wearing black clothes. She had a sword hanging of her side, still sheathed. "What's wrong with him?" Asked the strange woman. I spit my flashlight out and said, "He was shot. I just want a med kit. You can keep whatever is yours. I'm not a bandit. I promise."

She looked at me for about thirty seconds before she said, "My friend can help you. She's a healer. Follow me." _A healer? I only thought that there were seers and runners._ The woman walked quickly, turning a few corners. She took me to an operating room, where a girl with one green eye and the other blue, was sitting down on the old table. Another girl was sitting next to her. She had long blonde hair and daggers at her side. "Got a bullet wound." The girls immediately snapped their heads in our direction and they immediately got off the table. "Put him here. Did you already pull the bullet out?" I nodded my head and put him on the table. "Good. How long ago was this? The wound is already infected."

"About three weeks ago. I didn't have anything to clean the wound." The woman grabbed Zacks sleeve and moved it gently to the side. She put her hand on his wound, waking him and making him scream in pain. "Stop! You're hurting him!"

"I'm helping him. I'm scouting the wound. Rikku. Go get me the morphine. We need to dull his pain." The blonde girl ran off. Moments later, she returned carrying a needle. She jammed it into his arm, pressing on the plunger. Zack almost immediately stilled. The "healer", I had to guess, grabbed antiseptic ointments and bandages. "Pain, get him out of here."

The woman in black, Pain, grabbed my arm and pulled me out. "Yuna will take care of your husband." I gave the strange woman a strange look. How did she know we were married? "The ring on your finger. It matches his. Is your name Cloud? I heard the girls screaming that through the glass." I nodded my head.

"Let me go get them. Please. They will attack if they think we're in danger." Pain nodded her head and motioned me to follow her. I did. She led me to the sliding doors again. I opened them, with her help, and walked outside. "Tifa! Aerith," I screamed. I saw Tifa bob her head over one of the sand dunes. She pulled Aerith and ran at me full speed. Tifa tackled me in a hug saying how she was so worried and asking where Zack was.

"Zack's being treated. Come on." I got up and walked back into the building. Again, the doors slammed shut behind us. Pain was standing in the middle of the hallway. Tifa grabbed her dagger and lunged at Pain, who grabbed the hilt of her sword and pulled it half way out, blocking the strike.

"Tifa. She's not gonna hurt us. Led me to the healer here." Tifa turned her head toward me.

"You're a healer, Cloud. A doctor. What could that person..."

"A _healer. _Tifa, a new ability. She can detect what's wrong. Follow her. She'll take us to Zack." Tifa pulled her dagger away from Pain's sword, but kept it up. Pain sheathed her sword and walked away, taking us to Zack, who already looked much better. He looked at peace, sleeping. His wound already looked better. It didn't even looked infected. The Yuna woman was standing over his body, taking his pulse and temperature. "Cloud, Zack will be fine. Wait a few days and he'll be as good as new. I wonder how a gay couple has survived for so long." She said, then added," No offense. I am completely fine with gay people."

I just nodded my head. I was used to this stuff. I went over to Zack and sat next to him. I kissed him lightly on the lips and told Yuna, "Thank you, Yuna. You saved his life. I owe you my own now." Yuna shook her head and walked out. It seemed as if a lot of people were shaking and nodding their heads lately. I grabbed a chair, which was next to the operating table and put my head on Zack's chest. I closed my eyes, and slept.

* * *

The vision was... disturbing. I saw Tifa. She was crouched over a body. Zack's body. He had been shredded. His face and body looked like shredded meat. Aerith was right next to him. I was standing over them. My body was smeared with blood. My eyes were as dark as smoke in a dark room. I was holding a very large blade in my hand. It too was smeared with blood. The sky was gone. We were in a purple sphere. It glowed with evil. I walked over to Tifa, put my sword under her neck, and slit her throat. The blood mixed with Zacks and Aerith's. The blood then started to morph. It morphed into a perfect circle, then went up, drowning me in their blood.


	4. The Request

**Hey Guys! It's strifelover. I know it has been awhile since we have written, but charmeleine ditched me on this project. She said that she may come back...but she does have other stories to write. So from now on, it is all in Clouds P.O.V. until it says Clary. I am sorry, but the story will continue. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

I woke with a start. Zack was already looking better. Looks like Yuna had been changing his bandages throughout the night. I won't know how to thank her when Zack is back on his feet and were out of here. I got out of my chair and walked out of the room. Paine was guarding the door, with Tifa standing on the opposite side of the door frame, staring daggers at Paine. Paine had her head hung low and her eyes were closed. It looked as if she was sleeping, or praying. Something I had not seen in almost five years. No one ever prayed. Ever. It was rare to see someone so brave praying._ I admire this one._

"Thank you, Cloud. No one really admires me. Not even gay people." I looked at Paine, a start struck look on my face. I looked at Tifa with the same face and shrugged.

"She's been doing it all night. Apparently she can read minds." At this, Paine laughed. She shook her head and started to walk down the corridor.

"I can read minds. And no, Cloud, it is not another ability. I am psychic. I was before the apocalypse happened. So don't get your hopes up," Cried Paine as she was walking down the long hallway. I looked at Tifa who simply shook her head, and sat down. Tifa sighed and started to hum. Something her daughter had taught her. It has been so long since her death that I have forgotten her name. Tifa won't tell me so I just go through life. Her daughter had been a good friend of mine, but I was just recovering from the 'disappearance', as what is was called, the disappearance of billions people. After the bandits had taken control of the city, Zack and I fled. We were trying to get to a safe haven. Something that one had dreamed of, but could never find. Every time you felt safe, the bandits always found you. They were ruthless and just killed you. Sometimes they didn't even salvage the supplies that you had found, they just let your body rot.

I had seen this so many times that I just got used to it over time. It was a...disturbing...feeling. If that's what you wanted to call it. Over time, you just got used to death. Everyone does. I did, Zack did, even Aerith did. It was a hard feeling. Knowing that someone died, and you can't afford to care. It was the number one rule to the wasteland of Earth. Do not care about anything, or anyone. If you started to care, you were simply hurting yourself more than anything. You stopped concentrating on surviving. It got you killed. And I was breaking this rule. I had from the start. I concentrated on Zack and almost died. I still concentrated on him, and I always will.

I especially had to worry now. My visions either show what will happen, or put it in a puzzle and have me figure them out. I don't think that my vision was a puzzle this time. I believe that it showed me the truth. I was going to kill Zack, Aerith, and Tifa. Then I was, apparently, going to drown in their blood. This was not good. I don't want to tell Tifa, or Zack, about this. I blinked myself back into the present and out of my thoughts. I couldn't afford to worry about the future. I must worry about the present and the present only.

I looked down at Tifa, who was still humming her daughters tune, then walked away. I walked down the long corridor, looking for Paine. I need to know if she saw my dream. I can't let her tell the others. If she does, it could scare them. And that is exactly what I _don't _need. A scared party that is already terrified of living. I don't want them scared of death as well as life. That would only destroy them. I took a right and found Paine talking to Rikku and Yuna. Yuna looked over at me, motioning for me to go over to them.

I walked the short distance and stood in front of the three. Yuna looked over at Rikku, who then said, "Alright, Yunnie. I'll ask him. Cloud, what did you dream of last night?"

Paine had already told them. Great...exactly what I don't need. _Why did you tell them Paine? I was trying to keep that vision to myself,_ I thought, knowing that she would hear it. Paine shrugged and looked away, holding the hilt of her sword. "Rikku, I dreamed nothing. I did see a vision though, if that's what your'e referring to. If so, I dreamt that something had tainted me. I killed my husband and my best friends. Then their blood joined together, rising into a cylinder, drowning me. And do not, I repeat, do not, ask me to visit that vision again. It scares me, and I don't want to see anything about again."

Yuna looked down. She sighed and was about to say something, but I cut her off. "You are asking me to visit that vision again. Aren't you?" Yuna nodded her head.

"Rikku is also a Seer. She saw the exact same thing with us, but only three of us instead of four. Cloud, you and Rikku need to visit those visions again. They might have something to do with each other. Please, Cloud. Our lives might depend on it." At this, I looked over at Rikku, who was looking down, clearly terrified. I looked down as well. I couldn't believe what I was about to say.

"Alright. But under one condition," I scanned the three, making sure that they were paying attention, "We don't tell anyone about this. Do you understand? Know one. I value my husband and friends, and I don't need them fearing death as well as life. Got it? Good. When and where do we do this?"

* * *

Yuna told me to wait until night, when Aerith and Tifa were sleeping, and since Yuna put Zack into a forced coma, and he wasn't getting up anytime soon, to sneak out of the room that we were staying in, and to come to the waiting room. There, two gurneys would be set up, and Rikku and I would enter the vision together. I couldn't _wait_. This was going to be a long day. I was dreading sunset. All day I just paced the longest hallway I could find, and didn't stop until Rikku came up the stairs. "You okay, Cloud?"

"No. Not really. I'm terrified about tonight. Rikku, you had the same vision as me? How is that possible?" Rikku looked me directly in the eyes and shrugged. Not shrug of not caring, but a shrug of wonder and fright. A half shrug you could say.

"I don't know, Cloud. It most likely means that something big, really big, is about to happen. I don't even think it was on Earth. Did you see the background? It was black with green lights wavy lights flashing in the darkness. It was terrifying." I shook my head. I hadn't seen the background. Well, I haven't seen it just yet. I will see it though. In about two hours, from the look of the sun. It was low, barely hanging over the horizon. I was about to ask something before Rikku mentioned something about sleep. I thought that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Sleep. I was going to visiting my... _our..._ vision tonight, which required sleep. I shook my head, again, a lot of shaking.

"Rikku, if I sleep now, I may not be able to sleep when it comes time to See. You know that. Seers can only see if they sleep. That's why we have a hard time sleeping. We see to much. Remember the first few months of the 'outbreak'? When we first got our powers. Not one seer could sleep. We all became sleep deprived. Some even committed suicide. You have to remember that."

"I do remember, but Yuna has anesthesia. We'll sleep like newborns. If you sleep now, time will pass. Just go lie down. Trust me, I know where the feather beds are hidden. You'll sleep comfortably. Follow me." I did nothing but disobey my own mind. Sleep did sound better than waiting for a few more hours. Rikku brought me to the bathroom. I was about to ask if this was some kind of joke when she started to remove the panel to the heating vents. "You look small enough to fit through the vents. The beds are hidden in a room with no door. So, the vents are the only way in. Come on. It's just about a hundred or so feet more."

Rikku then disappeared though the small hole. I followed not a moment later. I wanted to lie in a soft bed. Rikku made a right, then a left, then one more right. She stopped at the first light on the last turn. She pushed the panel through, making it clatter on the floor. She jumped down the hole, which was bigger than the first vent opening. I, again, followed not a moment later. As soon as I hit the floor, I saw several beds. All looked soft. One bed was messy with a few books and a magazine on blitzball were open. Rikku walked over to the messy bed and lied down. "This ones mine. Choose which ever one you want. There's over 20 beds here." I walked over to the nearest bed, and said, "Thank you, Rikku. Wake me when its time." I lied down and closed my eyes. The vision started almost immediately. It was the same boy from the vision a few nights ago. Next to him were two boys, kissing softly, and a girl, about his age, sitting just behind him.

She was holding a gun. It was not pointed at him, but at three cans. She rapidly fired, hitting all three cans.

_"impressive, Clary. But I can do better." _The boy, probably Jace, got up and put up six cans. He grabbed the gun from- Clary?- and put six shells in the revolver. He looked at the cans for a second, looked away, and rapidly fired, just as the girl had. He hit all six. _"Told you I was better."_

_"You've had more practice than me you jerk! You've only taught me the basics. Plus, I've only been practicing for six months."_

When the boy talked again, it wasn't his voice. It was a woman's. "_Cloud. You don't have a lot of time. You need to find the 'artifact'. It will lead you all to Safe Haven. Hurry! The people you see here are only fifty miles from your location. After seeing with the 'Rikku' girl, you need to go to them. Take Yuna and her group with you. That is the only way to prevent the vision you and Rikku have shared. Wake up right now. I love you... brother."_

* * *

I woke up to Rikku sitting on my bed, telling me that it was time. Time to share. The vision quest was upon us. I got out of bed. My sister hadn't contacted me in over twenty years. I thought that I was going crazy when she contacted me the first few times. I missed her, but she helped me through the pain of Seering. The changing of the brain, so that we, humans could see the future, present, and past.

I crawled through the vents with Rikku again, and went to the 'Waiting room'. I walked in, and saw the gurneys and two syringes. Yuna looked up, grabbed a needle and said, "So...Who's first?"


End file.
